Kuwait’s Health Minister Sheikh Dr. Bassel Al-Sabah’s announcement that 70 percent of the population have been vaccinated disseminated optimism nationwide that community immunity was within reach.
The announcement came after almost two years of strict measures triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, including lockdowns and partial curfews. Kuwait was fully mobilized to control the spread of the virus and began a vaccination campaign eight months ago with the ultimate aim of reaching community immunity. Indeed more than 2.6 million people were vaccinated so far. His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah launched the vaccination campaign with a Pfizer-BionTech shot and had recently announced the success of the campaign, paving way for full return of employees to the workplace in person. “We are on the right track to achieve community immunity,” Ministry of Health spokesman Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad said and expressed gratitude to health care workers for their fight against the virus. He also commended citizens and expatriates for registering to get the vaccine.
Dr. Khaled Al-Saeed, a member of the COVId-19 vaccine committee, said the inoculation paved the way to community immunity which would eventually ease the strain on the health system in case of future waves of the pandemic. The vaccination, he added, contributed to a drop in the number of patients in hospitals and deaths. It also encouraged the ministry to introduce a third shot of the vaccine “for critical cases.” Maryam Abdurrahman, director of the nutrition department at Kuwait Cancer Center, described the 70-percent vaccination threshold as “a great breakthrough.” She said the pandemic affected psychological, social, and health behavior and the acceleration of vaccination would have positive impacts among people with low immunity.
Eman Ahmad, a mother of an autistic boy, said her child could now enjoy his time outdoors to live a normal life. Amal Abdullah, a member of the Kuwait Writers Association, said the acceleration of vaccinations encouraged the association to organize a book fair, the first since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Source-KUNA